Harry H. Laughlin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Harry H. Laughlin
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Laughlin, c. 1929
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Harry Hamilton Laughlin
March 11, 1880 Oskaloosa, Iowa, U.S.
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| Died | January 26, 1943 (aged 62) Missouri, U.S.
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| Education | District Normal School (BA) Princeton University (DSc) |
| Occupation | Educator and eugenicist |
| Spouse(s) | Pansy Laughlin |
Harry Hamilton Laughlin (March 11, 1880 – January 26, 1943) was an American educator.
Biography
Early life
Harry Hamilton Laughlin was born March 11, 1880, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He graduated from the First District Normal School (now Truman State University) in Kirksville, Missouri. In 1917, he earned a Doctor of Science degree from Princeton University in the field of cytology.
Career
World government
Laughlin was fascinated by the idea of establishing a world government. He worked on his plans for this throughout his adult life. The world government model that he devised was loosely based on the U.S. Constitution and the League of Nations. The allotment of representation in the body was heavily biased in favor of Europe and North America, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States. Laughlin believed that his world government model would promote the eugenicist aim of preventing the intermixing of different races. Many leading internationalists expressed interest in Laughlin's world government plan; these included Edward M. House, Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy adviser.
Retirement and death
Laughlin and his wife Pansy married in 1902; the couple did not have children. Laughlin was pressured into retirement by Vannevar Bush in 1939, after a series of severe seizures. These seizures may have been due to hereditary epilepsy. The couple returned to Kirksville in December 1939. Laughlin died January 26, 1943, and was buried near his father and mother in Highland Park Cemetery in Kirksville.
See also
- E. S. Gosney
- Madison Grant
- Human Betterment Foundation
- Paul B. Popenoe
